“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

– Judges 17:6

What confusion!I have never seen anything quite like it.The circular intersection around the Arc de’ Triumph in Paris is a place where cars and motor scooters converge on what appears the be a eight-lane “round-a-bout.”Traffic simply inches along with horns blaring and passions flaring.There are no stop lights or traffic cops to bring order to this chaos of vehicles.There is one positive note to all of this:No one was breaking the law – there was no law!

Back in the days before Israel had a king, a similar situation prevailed.Although they had God’s law, people ignored it and did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 17:6).What a bitter price they paid for such freedom!The book of Judges tells of their disobedience, which resulted in oppression by pagan neighbors.

Still today, many people, and even some professing Christians, ignore God’s clear revelation of Himself in His Word.They think they are free to form their own ideas of what God is like and what He expects.Strongly influenced by a godless culture, they live at the center of their own little world and walk in their own ways.That creates moral and spiritual confusion.

We must take God’s Word seriously if we are to show our world that Christ gives us freedom to do what is right.Freedom doesn’t give us the right to do what we please, but to do what pleases God.